


you got two black eyes from loving too hard

by stinewastaken



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, Explicit things are still a long way to go, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I'll put a warning, M/M, Slow Updates, i'll update these as i go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-22 01:06:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14297415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stinewastaken/pseuds/stinewastaken
Summary: Yukhei barely talked to him and he barely talked to Yukhei - so having his phone light up with a message from the man he hated and that supposedly hated him as well piqued his interest.aka the luwoo enemies to lover fake dating au no one asked for but we're severly starved of luwoo fics so here. have this.





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from Panic! at the Disco's LA Devotee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yukhei hated him and he hated Yukhei - that's simply how it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just the prologue so this is rather short and also Exposition Central™ - I'm sorry I'll try to make the next chapters longer!!
> 
> this is only semi-beta'ed so if you find anything that's wrong please tell me, my first language isn't English oof

Jungwoo had first met Yukhei a little over a year ago when he had just transferred to his school and, only recently having moved to Korea from Hong Kong, his Korean was more than lacking. He had a hard time understanding everyone as much as everyone else had a hard time understanding him.

But there was something about him that made everyone gravitate towards him - maybe it was the way his lips curled up so beautifully when he smiled or the way his hair fell into his eyes with every little movement of his head. It was obvious he was beautiful and the more Korean he learned the more obvious it became to Jungwoo that he was incredibly smart, too.

The speed at which his Korean improved was impressive; the better it got the more Jungwoo realised how naturally smart Yukhei seemed to be. He picked up things easily and seemed to be able to work with everything no matter how complicated or complex a topic was.

And not only was he popular and smart, he also was incredibly athletic. Within weeks he managed to become one of the best basketball players of the entire school and Jungwoo had to admit that the look of his thighs had gotten him through some lonely nights early in the school year.

So Jungwoo might've had crush on him when he first transferred - how can you not when he's so gorgeous and smart and his laugh seems to make a room a hundred times brighter.

But whatever it was that tucked at Jungwoo's heart every time Yukhei looked so adorably lost when people were talking too quickly soon got crushed and made way for a feeling a lot less poetic.

What he first had admired about Yukhei soon began to annoy him. Jungwoo was a hard worker - he worked and worked for school and it paid off, he was one of the best students in his year and he was proud of it. So seeing Yukhei succeed in everything with as little as a head nod or a lift of his finger irked him.

Everything fell into Yukhei's lap and Jungwoo hated it, hated how he at first would've happily fallen as well, how Yukhei doesn't even care that he has everything in the world and just always wants more.

And Yukhei didn't seem to like him either - they never had any fights or expressed their dislike towards the other but everyone in the school just seemed to know that the two don't get along.

Most people "sided" with Yukhei not even knowing why it is that Jungwoo and Yukhei always tried to avoid each other as though the other carries some deadly disease. Granted, Jungwoo didn't know why Yukhei disliked him either but he had no desire to know. He didn't like Yukhei and Yukhei didn't like him - that's simply how it was.

So when the yearbook released a few weeks back people were quick to catch up on the fact that the Superlatives - these "awards" where people voted for someone they thought had the 'Nicest Smile' or was the 'Teacher's Favourite', stuff like that - seemed to be equally divided between Yukhei and Jungwoo.

To be honest, Jungwoo couldn't care less about these "awards" so to say, he didn't care that people considered him the "Teacher's Favourite" or as the "Smartest Student" (though he did feel a slight bit proud upon reading his name at the number 1 spot for that).

Everybody else seemed to think that he did though and soon, rumours began circulating around the school about how both Yukhei and him apparently feverishly tried to beat the other and how this "competition" between the two of them of who could get the most Superlatives written in their name was the reason for them hating each other.

Yukhei barely talked to him and he barely talked to Yukhei - so having his phone light up with a message from the man he hated and that supposedly hated him as well piqued his interest.

It was a normal Thursday afternoon on a hot day during the summer holidays, which means that Taeyong was over in Jungwoo's room doing whatever while Jungwoo was reading. Jungwoo had asked why it is that Taeyong always comes to his room even though they barely talked to each other when he was over. Taeyong would simply shrug and say "you don't have a roommate" which was weird because Taeyong's roommate, Sicheng, was never in their dorm anyways as he always spent time at his "pretty Japanese boyfriend"'s place (Taeyong's words, not his).

Jungwoo shuffles over from where he was lying on the couch reading to grab his phone, thinking about what it could possibly be that Mr. I'm-So-Perfect-I-Don't-Ever-Have-To-Do-Any-Work-And-People-Will-Still-Lie-To-My-Feet would want from him.

When he saw what Yukhei had written his breath got stuck in his throat.

"T-Taeyong? This is Yukhei's number right?" Jungwoo asked Taeyong who was sitting on the floor in front of him playing some video game he faintly remembered to be called Fortnite.

Taeyong barely looked up from the game as he didn't want to die (Jungwoo assumed) but after a quick glance at Jungwoo's phone screen he nodded.

"Yeah that's his number. Why? Are you finally gonna confess your undying love for him?" he joked, laughing to himself.

"God I wish I had never told you about the time I jerked off to his thighs."

"It's not my fault you're a lightweight and get incredibly talkative when you're drunk."

"And no, it's because he messa-," Taeyong, supposedly having died, swore under his breath.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt you, go on," he said, turning around to face Jungwoo.

"As I was saying, it's not because I want to 'confess my undying love for him'," Jungwoo said, making air quotes with his hands and mocking Taeyong's tone who giggled in reply, "it's because he messaged me. But I can't really believe he's the one that messaged me."

"What? What do you mean?" Taeyong asked, leaning his head slightly sideways while having it perched on his hands.

"Cute," the voice in Jungwoo's head immediately supplies before returning back to its confused state.

"Well listen to this: 'Hey Jungwoo, this is Yukhei. Weird question but how about we pretend date?'"

And with that, Taeyong choked on his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> added the yuwin for my friend alma uwu love u
> 
> pressure me into finishing the next chapter on twitter


	2. proposition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He really didn't understand why people thought he and Jungwoo hated each other because of the Superlatives. While it was kind of true on Yukhei's side, Jungwoo didn't seem like the type of person to care all too much about these "titles". When he got his yearbook, he barely glanced at the pages before continuing to look at the rest of the yearbook. Not that Yukhei was looking or anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter two is done!! I have barely started chapter three though so please have patience with me as it could take a little longer to finish the next chapter oof
> 
> again, this is only semi-beta'ed so if you see mistakes please tell me!

"Did you see the new Superlative they're gonna do next year?" Jeno asked from where he's perched upside down on the swing.

It was a Thursday afternoon - meaning Yukhei, Jeno, Mark and occasionally some of their other friends hung out wherever they could find some space to lie down outside to try and escape the blasting heat that was cooking them alive whenever they were inside. Today they were in the playground not far from Jeno's house - the big oak tree with the swing dangling from it was one of their favourite spots, not only supplying shadow but also a swing to swing from for some wind when the heat got unbearable. Not that Yukhei wasn't happy that it was finally warm again - he enjoyed playing basketball outside too much not to - but did it have to be _this_ hot?

"No, what is it?" Yukhei asked, nudging Mark's head resting atop his thigh to stop him from falling asleep. He blinked cutely a few times before glaring at the taller. They were lying underneath the tree while Jeno was on his stomach on the swing a few metres to their side, everybody feeling like moving would make them break out into sweat as if they were running a marathon.

"It's one two people can win, so maybe Jungwoo and you can finally bury the hatchet," Jeno giggled.

"Yeah don't count on that," Yukhei replied, beginning to play with Mark's hair out of boredom.

"Come on, Ten thinks he's cute," Mark replied sleepily, closing his eyes again which prompts a small flick to his head from Yukhei to keep him awake.

"Yeah well, Ten is like a horny dog, he'll jump anything that has a dick and isn't in a tree on the count to three," Jeno says, slowly moving the swing back and forth as if he were in a crib.

"What? He's never hit on me before! And I can't even climb trees." Mark exclaims, nearly smacking Yukhei in the face while wildly gesticulating.

Yukhei, being used to Mark's hand-throwing ways, barely even flinches. "Yeah, that's because you're about as straight as they can get and literally everybody within a three mile radius is able to tell as much."

Jeno simply nods.

"And not being able to climb trees comes from being, like, three foot tall," Yukhei giggles, Mark actually hitting him in the face on purpose as a response.

"He hasn't hit on me yet either but I'm pretty sure that's because, to quote him, I am "so whipped for Jaemin and Renjun that I'll probably end up strangling myself with one of their headphones if they leaves me alone for too long"," Jeno says, Mark immediately breaking out into a fit of laughs.

"He actually said that? To YOUR FACE?"

"Yeah, he did; it was the day I first met him," Yukhei said, "And then he turned to me and hit on me! Can you believe that? He actually asked Jeno who I was because, apparently, I am a "nice piece of ass". Again, quoting him. Can you believe that? With you he immediately could tell you're straight but I had to spell it out for him."

Jeno and Mark exchange a look Yukhei doesn't catch.

"But anyways, the fact that Ten finds Jungwoo cute doesn't change that I hate him to the very core."

"What do you even have against him?" Mark asks, looking up at Yukhei who has returned his hands to Mark's hair after having to stop so that Mark could gesticulate to his full abilities. "He's not a bad guy; I really don't see what you have against him."

"I just... I don't like him okay? Stop asking me about it or do you want me to hate you too?" Yukhei lets out an angry huff of breath but tries to hide it behind a giggle. He fails.

"Why do you always get so angry whenever we ask about him?" Jeno chimes in, "Is it really that big a deal?"

"Yes! Because you guys don't seem to understand that I just don't want to talk about it. It's literally not that hard to just accept that I don't like him and not constantly ask questions about it. The whole school seems to be able to do that, why aren't you?"

Yukhei lets go of Mark's hair and leans back against the tree he's sitting under. He pulls his knees up to his chest, effectively making Mark's head fall to the floor with a bang. Yukhei doesn't even look at him as he sits up while rubbing his head where he hit it.

"Okay, first of all, ow," Mark says, sitting up normally and turning to face Yukhei, "second of all, calm down. We'll stop asking about it. We're just concerned. We're your friends and you hating someone for no apparent reason is a little. Odd."

"Oh, but I do have a reason. Haven't you heard? Jungwoo and I hate each other because we both want all the Superlatives," Yukhei says, his tone a little mocking. He really didn't understand why people thought he and Jungwoo hated each other because of the Superlatives. While it was kind of true on Yukhei's side, Jungwoo didn't seem like the type of person to care all too much about these "titles". When he got his yearbook, he barely glanced at the pages before continuing to look at the rest of the yearbook. Not that Yukhei was looking or anything.

He didn't want to dwell on it for too long now.

"Yeah I guess so," Jeno said, pulling Yukhei's mind back to reality, "it just seemed a little, I don't know, farfetched to us I guess? Like we didn't think you'd actually care so much about the Superlatives..." Jeno said, slowly trailing off at the end.

' _If it'll stop them from asking about Jungwoo_ ,' Yukhei thought, ' _overdramatizing the truth mightn't be too bad_.'

"I do though. Do you know how much care it takes to keep this hair looking this beautiful all the time? "Best Hair" doesn't earn itself! Or do you know how much money I spend on clothes? There's so much competition for "Best Dressed" it's not even funny. But your boy still got it. I work hard to get these titles and I damn well deserve them. I want ALL of them, every single one and if it's the last thing I'll do!" Yukhei jokingly pretended to throw his hair behind his ear, laughing and turning back towards his two friends who were worriedly looking at him. When they saw he was laughing their expression of worry melted into a smile, a stone seemingly falling off their hearts.

He didn't lie to them. He actually _did_ care about the Superlatives. Just in a different way than they were thinking.

Everyone always told Yukhei how pretty he was. How well his face was structured, how naturally nice his hair looked, how good his fashion style was. From when he was young he had always been recognised for his visuals.

And it was nice, hearing that you're pretty rarely was a bad thing. What annoyed Yukhei was how everyone never looked beyond that. He was always just a pretty face to them and no one ever recognised him for anything else.

Which is why he started playing basketball as he grew older, so that people hopefully would realise that he actually had some talents and was more than they were seeing.  
And it worked.

For a period of time, the compliments directed towards his visuals died down while he received more and more compliments regarding his skill at basketball. It felt nice, finally people saw that he was good at something, that he had some worth besides being pretty.

Until people began pointing out the side effects of playing a sport like your life depended on it - muscles. Suddenly it wasn't about his ability to play basketball anymore but about how good his arms looked when he wore his jersey or how nice his thighs had gotten.

So he began working to gain other recognition. He began working harder in school, hoping he could get the Superlative for "Smartest Student" et cetera, a clear sign that people were recognising his intellect.

So when he moved to Korea he gave it his best. He studied hard and long and he felt like it worked. His Korean improved quickly and his schoolwork didn't suffer too much under him having to learn an entire new language. He even quickly managed to catch up to the rest of his class and work on their level.

But people still ignored that.

He had joined the basketball team again, simply because he enjoyed it. He loved the sport and especially in the beginning, when he wasn't able to speak very well, it helped him make friends quickly. The same downside he had experienced in his last school back in Hong Kong happened again though.

So when the yearbook released and his fears of only being seen as a "pretty face" again were confirmed, he had so much hatred inside him that he had to focus it on someone.

That someone being Jungwoo.

Beautiful, smart, perfect Jungwoo who had taken everything away from him.

Yukhei didn't understand what it was about Jungwoo that made everyone else recognise his intellect but not Yukhei's. Why was it that Yukhei got only the superficial Superlatives when Jungwoo was actually a thousand times prettier than him? Why was it that Jungwoo received all the Superlatives Yukhei was working so hard for?

"Hey, I'm sorry I got so mad. It's just - it's the holidays and I don't want to spend them worrying about these damn Superlatives. I do that enough during the school year," he chuckled.

He did feel genuinely sorry for snapping at them like that - he normally was a rather composed person but something inside him just wanted to scream every time Jungwoo was mentioned.

"It's fine really, don't worry. We just didn't know you actually cared this much about all the Superlatives. We thought it was just some dumb rumour people had come up with," Mark says, nudging Yukhei to lie back down so that he can go back to using his thighs as a pillow. After he's successfully gotten Yukhei in the desired position, he lies back down, immediately closing his eyes and practically purring when Yukhei returns his hands to his hair.

"'m sorry about making your head smack off the floor like that as well." Yukhei apologetically strokes the part of Mark's head that had fallen onto the floor earlier, eliciting a small laugh from Mark.

"It's fine, it's not like I don't smack my head into light bulbs or stuff like that every other day."

"Oh my god yes Yukhei did you see yesterday when Mark was just standing around rapping, you know as he does, just randomly breaking out into fucking rap like I can't believe he actually - well never mind that's not important right now," Jeno nearly tumbled over his words, wanting to say too many things at once, "- anyways, he was rapping and walking and somehow managed to run into this light bulb that was literally hanging like eye level, it was the funniest shit."

"Oh come on, don't do me like this just because -"

And with that, the Yukhei vs. Jungwoo topic was forgotten.

 

 

 

Until a few hours later, when the three of them were sitting outside Jeno's house on his front porch. Yukhei was mindlessly licking the ice cream they had gotten from inside when a thought crossed his mind.

"Hey, you never said what that new Superlative is."

"What?" Jeno and Mark, previously having been indulged in a feverish discussion about whether Lightning McQueen or Herbie was the more intelligent car, said, turning to look at Yukhei and answer him at the same time. When they realised what they'd just done they turn to face each other and grin widely.

"Wow, maybe we all spend a little too much time together," Yukhei says, kind of creeped out by how in sync the younger were. "But I was asking about the new Superlative. You never mentioned what it was. You only said it was for two people."

"Oh yeah right, we kinda trailed off rather quickly..." Jeno, being the one sitting closer to Yukhei, scratched his head uncomfortably trying to avoid the topic as to why they trailed off so that Yukhei wouldn't get mad again, "but yeah as I said, it's one for two people -"

"So the chances of me winning it is higher then, if there's two people, that's cool I like that," Yukhei nods his head slightly, intently staring at his ice cream trying to figure out where to lick next as to not make the whole thing melt over his hands.

Jeno laughed uncomfortably. "N- Not really."

"What do you mean?" Yukhei, finally having found a spot, takes a long lick up the ice cream, his eyes narrowing a little afterwards as his gaze shifts from Mark to Jeno confusedly.  
"The new Superlative they're doing - it's "Best Couple"."

""Best Couple"?!? How the fuck is my single ass supposed to get that? Does the school have no consideration for their students at all?" Yukhei exclaims loudly, his ice cream thumping to the floor as it slides out its cone when he throws his hand in the air in distress.

Mark giggles a little as the ice cream just narrowly misses Yukhei's head in its fall. "They do, which is probably exactly why they introduced this Superlative, so that people other than Jungwoo and you have a chance of winning it," he jokes.

"What are you gonna do? After all, you want _all_ the Superlatives, you've made that perfectly clear earlier," Jeno, says humming contently when he takes another lick of his ice cream.

"Well it seems as though his 'single ass' is gonna have to get itself relationship," Mark replies for Yukhei, staring at Jeno who looks up and winks knowingly. Yukhei, looking at the blob on the floor that used to be his ice cream and not noticing the silent exchange between the two younger, sighs. "Yeah I - I guess I have to get me a girlfriend."

Yukhei had really driven himself in a hole now. He didn't _care_ about the "Best Couple" Superlative but due to his little rant earlier what else could he do now? He had gotten so angry and hid it behind his desire to have all the Superlatives written in his name, Jeno and Mark must think he would kill for them.

So he didn't see any way around it. There was nothing he could say to convince them that he cared for every single Superlative expect "Best Couple" without seeming suspicious.

Lost in his thoughts, Yukhei doesn't hear Mark's giggle at the world 'girlfriend'.

"Or, you know you could just find someone to fake-date you. Because like, you've mentioned several times that you're not interested in any of the girls on the school," Jeno hits Mark on his leg to stop him from laughing, the action going unnoticed by Yukhei. "So just ask a friend or anyone who'd be willing to do it. Pretend to date them for the year and then after graduation you just stop and you can go get yourself a proper relationship if wanted. You'll just have to spend like an evening each week with them on a "date" and pick them up from classes sometimes or some shit like that. Doesn't seem too hard," Jeno says, hitting Mark even harder as he's practically shaking from laughter.

"That's a great idea! I'll just ask some friends if they're down to date. It'll just be like hanging out one a week with someone that can't be that bad!" Yukhei, smiling for the first time since having dropped his ice cream, immediately takes out his phone to start find himself a "boyfriend". He might have to bribe someone with like a meal a week but that's the price you have to pay for lying, he guessed.

Jeno and Mark exchange a quick look before Mark gets up so hurriedly he nearly trips over his own feet, shouting "excuse me" as he goes to enter the house.  
Yukhei, looking up from his phone only to see Mark vanishing through the door, turned to Jeno confused. "What's up with him?"

"I don't know man," Jeno laughed, the awkwardness of it being lost on Yukhei. "But yeah anyways as you might've suspected I can't help you out bro, Jaemin and Injunnie would kill me."

"You sure they'd kill you and not be relieved he finally found a way to get rid of you?" Yukhei grinned as Jeno threw the ice cream wrappers at Yukhei, resorting to simply hitting him once he's run out.

Jeno only stopped once Mark returned outside half a minute later, giving Jeno a small nod.

"Geez, we all know they love you no need to kill me over a joke," Yukhei complains but laughs nonetheless, picking his phone back up after having dropped it to try and block Jeno's hands from hitting his torso.

He begins looking through his address book to find someone who might be willing to pretend to date him. There were a few names he deemed possible so he selected one of them and started typing.

`"heyyy johnny bro, wanna do me a favour? I'll buy u dinner in exchange"` was how he decided to begin the conversation. It was casual enough to not scare Johnny off before he could even ask the question but also let him know that something was coming.

Yukhei didn't have to wait long before Johnny's reply flashed up on his screen.

`**johnathan** "woah, wong yukhei is offering to buy someone else food? what has the world come to?"`

Sarcasm was dripping off of the words. Maybe asking Johnny had been a bad idea, Yukhei wasn't sure whether he would be able to survive the entire year with his jokes.

He typed out a reply, carefully choosing his words. In the end it took him almost three minutes to try and type a message he deemed acceptable. He ended up with the message "I know this sounds kinda crazy, but how about we pretend to date?". Sure, it wasn't his best work and sure, there probably were better ways to handle this whole situation, but he could feel Jeno and Mark's eyes burn through the back of his head and he really didn't want to have to deal with the entire Jungwoo situation again.

The reply from Johnny came almost instantaneously.  
` **johnathan** "why would I fake a relationship with u when theres some good korean dick waiting for me?!"`  


` "johnboy my dude you said like two words to him," `Yukhei replies, giggling at Johnny's year-long crush on Taeil he never seems to do anything about. All of their mutual friends have made an agreement to stay out of it and not meddle in their business (but they also had started betting on how long it would take the two to take over each other's hearts (and beds)).

` **johnathan** "yeah bc u still refuse to give me his number"` comes back, Yukhei almost being able to see Johnny roll his eyes.

` "yeah well man up and go get it urself u overgrown baby literally just ask him it's not that hard" `

And with that, the conversation ended and Johnny was not an option anymore.

It always seemed to end that way, no matter who he asked they all declined. Some told him excuses that sounded incredibly fabricated but most simply said something along the lines of "why the fuck would I fake a relationship with you for a Superlative I'm not crazy go ask someone who cares about those".

In the beginning it frustrated Yukhei, that no one was willing to do as much as go out for meal with him every week, even when he was the one paying. But he quickly realised that this might be turning out in his benefit - if he found no one to fake a relationship with, maybe Mark and Jeno would let him off the hook?

 

After half an hour of (unsuccessfully) trying to find himself a fake-date, he lies down on the floor with a loud thump.

"It's useless," he says, trying to sound as though he's genuinely upset, "no one wants to pretend to date me." Topping it off with a pout, he makes sure Jeno and Mark hear him sighing exasperatedly.

"What did they all say?" Mark says, having left Yukhei alone for most of the past half hour, only talking to him to ask if he wanted a lemonade from inside. Otherwise he had just been whispering with Jeno about something, probably those damn cars again.

"That I should ask someone that cares about the Superlatives. But there's not a single person that wants this as much as me. I guess this'll be the one Superlative I cannot get then. Bummer."

"Now, that's not really true. There is one person that cares as much as you." Jeno chimes in.

Leaning on his forearm he turned slightly to look at the two sitting a meter to his left. "You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting are you?"

"Why not? It makes perfect sense." Mark jumps to Jeno's defence, not even flinching under the dirty look Yukhei throws him.

"Uhm, you forgot a small little detail there, that detail being that I hate him." Yukhei puts extra stress on the 'hate'.

"But think about it - he wants this just as much as you. You can win all the other Superlatives and it wouldn't matter that he would have the couple one under his name then because you have it too. Plus you'd get the satisfaction of taking the Superlatives from under his nose."

"Yeah exactly, Mark's right. Plus you wouldn't even have to show yourself in public with him as much. Since he's so shy you can just make up stories of how you went out or when you meet up you can just go to the library making sure loads of people see you on the way. But when you're there you go into a quiet corner where you're secluded and just not talk to each other for an hour or so and then leave together again."

Fuck.

So they won't let him off the hook that easy.

"And you two seriously think he's going to agree to this? He hates me as much as I hate him."

Mark and Jeno simply shrug. "The question is, does his hate for you outweigh his desire for the Superlatives."

"Okay, I'll message him, but I don't think he'll agree to it. But he's my last chance, so I guess I gotta try," Yukhei says, a sigh of defeat leaving his mouth.

"Here's his number," Mark says, handing Yukhei his phone. "My friend from dance class, Taeyong, knows him. I called him once to tell him Taeyong would be late because he still had to practise something, calm down," Mark says at the betrayed look Yukhei was giving him.

'He's not gonna agree to this,' Yukhei thinks to himself as he types out a message with shaking hands, 'why are you so nervous anyways.'

"Hey Jungwoo, this is Yukhei. Weird question but how about we pretend date?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry Ten I love you
> 
> also the part with Mark running into a light bulb was totally inspired by yestoday behind the scenes


	3. plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jungwoo may hate Yukhei's gut but in the end his curiosity was bigger than his hatred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no I'm not dead (yet)

Jungwoo found himself sitting in a little café near the school on the following Thursday afternoon. The weather was still as unbearably hot as it had been the past few weeks - he really hoped it would cool down soon, at least a little.

He had ordered himself an Iced Coffee to stop his body from overheating and seated himself in a corner of the small coffee shop on one of the couches they seem to have squashed into the corners never to be taken out again. There was a muffin waiting for him on the small table in front of him; it turned out to be surprisingly tasty when he took the first bite out of it.

He had been waiting for about twenty minutes now, and was slowly losing his patience. He was supposed to meet Yukhei here at 2pm, it was now 2:18pm and there was still no sign of the latter showing up.

Jungwoo wasn't even entirely sure why he agreed to meet him here. When he received the message asking him to pretend to be in a relationship with Yukhei he (understandably) was confused. Not even Taeyong, who normally always has a word to say about everything, seemed to know what to say. He simply demanded to see the message himself and then continued to stare at the phone for a good five minutes before returning the phone to Jungwoo with a blank stare of "I have no clue what's going on."

He knew he was just going to become more anxious as time goes on so he quickly replied a small "I'm sorry, what?" to Yukhei before throwing his phone off to the side. It wasn't a very elegant response and it didn't really say a whole lot but Jungwoo was confused and his brain often seems to just fail and go for whatever question first pops into his head then.

So Jungwoo was at a bit of a loss on what to do. Why did Yukhei message him? Let alone with such an "unusual" request? Where did he even get his number? What would he gain from "dating" him? Didn't he hate him? Why would Yukhei message Jungwoo then, of all people? Why did he think Jungwoo was going to agree to this anyways, especially seeing as they're proclaimed "mortal enemies"? Was Yukhei actually not as bad as a guy as he thought he was? Had he been hating him for no reason at all?

Jungwoo may hate Yukhei's guts, but in the end, his curiosity was bigger than his hatred.

Taeyong, seemingly having sensed Jungwoo's inner turmoil, sat down on the couch next to him and wordlessly wrapped his arms around him.

Only when a small ping originating from where Jungwoo had thrown his phone echoed through the room and Jungwoo makes no effort of even moving does Taeyong let go of him. Throwing Jungwoo a cautious look to make sure what he was doing was okay, he picked up the phone and unlocked it to read what Yukhei had replied.

"It's kind of a long story, can we meet somewhere so I can explain? Like maybe we could go to a café or something, my treat," Taeyong read out loud, looking up at Jungwoo through his eyelashes.

Jungwoo was sitting in the corner of the couch by then, his knees held tightly to his chest and apparently biting on his thumb nail - a nervous habit of his.

"I mean, I guess?" Jungwoo said, finally looking away from the spot on the floor he had been staring at for the past five minutes to avoid looking into Taeyong's eyes. "I mean, I guess I should go, yeah? Like to hear him out? Maybe he's a good person after all? I should give him another chance?" Jungwoo raised his voice at the end of each sentence as though it was a question Taeyong knew the answer to (he didn't).

And so, they decided to meet at the café at 2pm on the following Thursday.

It now was 2:23pm on that said Thursday.

The moment Jungwoo decided to wait until half past and then bolt, he saw Yukhei's head peak through the door. He was scanning the small room and when his eyes fell on Jungwoo, a nervous smile spread across his face.

'Well at least it's a smile,' Jungwoo thought to himself, trying to remember if he had ever seen Yukhei smile at him before. Yukhei waved timidly before indicating that he was gonna go to the counter to get himself a drink with a show of hands.

Jungwoo gave him an awkward thumbs-up and he could've sworn he saw Yukhei giggle a little.

As Yukhei walked towards his little corner with a drink in hand, Jungwoo couldn't help letting his eyes roam over Yukhei's body. From his long, slender fingers that seemed to nearly wrap around the entire cup of ice cold mango smoothie he had gotten himself - over his broad, muscular shoulders that sometimes made Jungwoo wonder how Yukhei even fit through doors - down to his never-ending legs that made shooting hoops in basketball seemingly so easy for him. Jungwoo could understand why everyone voted Yukhei for "Best Looking Male" - he was a sight to behold.

But if only he wasn't such a dick.

"I'm so, so sorry I'm late, I got caught up, I had to help my friend Mark with something; I feel horrible for making you wait," Yukhei says as he sits down in front of Jungwoo, "and now you obviously ordered already even though I said it'd be my treat. I'm sorry I'll pay you back, I promise."

"What's going on?" The words slipped out of Jungwoo's mouth before he could stop them.

Yukhei simply stared at Jungwoo with a confused expression, his mouth agape ever so slightly. "I mean like - why are you being so nice; I thought you hated me," comes from Jungwoo, trying to explain his earlier slip-up.

Yukhei chuckled. "Wow it's not even been two minutes and you're already attacking me, ouch." Yukhei, in false hurt, holds a hand over his heart, pretending to have been shot.

Jungwoo doesn't laugh.

Yukhei's smile melts into one of annoyance.

"But yeah well, I may not like you but I am asking you for a favour here so the least I can do is be nice, I guess." Yukhei moves around in his seat uncomfortably.

'Of course big ol' Mister basketball player can't sit still,' Jungwoo thinks to himself, inwardly rolling his eyes at Yukhei's restlessness.

(Some part of his brain was also scolding himself for being so mean to Yukhei but he would never admit that to himself.)

"I must say though, I'm actually really surprised that you agreed to meeting me here," Yukhei continues.

"Yeah well, there were a lot of surprises for both of us that day then," Jungwoo replies jokingly, conjuring a smile onto Yukhei's features Jungwoo would never call adorable (out loud, at least).

Yukhei looked down at his drink awkwardly trying to figure out a way to start this conversation. "But yeah... the reason I- I asked you to meet me here because - what I wanted to ask you -," Jungwoo, trying to help Yukhei out as he's taking eight years to say one sentence, interrupts. "You want to fake a relationship with me."

Yukhei, obviously being surprised at Jungwoo's boldness, nods slowly.

"Y- Yeah. That."

"May I ask why, though. Like what do you gain from this. And why the fuck with me." The words burst out of Jungwoo, pent up frustration and confusion making his brain-to-mouth filter basically non-existent.

Yukhei sighed. Why was he suddenly like this, all he wanted to do was come here, tell Jungwoo about the Superlative thing, get rejected and go. He knew how this would end before he came so why he suddenly wasn't even able to look Jungwoo in the eyes was beyond him.

"See, it's actually a really weird story, my fr-"

"Yeah, I assumed it'd be weird, seeing as it brought us two together here," Jungwoo laughed to himself, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Will you just -," Yukhei sighed and rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair to hide his annoyance, "will you just let me talk for the love of god?"

He didn't care that he sounded a little harsh and demanding; he tried to be nice to Jungwoo, he really did, but there was still the underlying hatred dictating his feelings towards the other.

And it seemed to work, as Jungwoo visibly shrunk a little at his tone, bowing his head.

'Good,' something deep inside Yukhei said sternly, liking the idea of Jungwoo giving in to him just by the sound of his voice. It deeply satisfied him.

"Thank you," he said a little harsher than needed.

"Anyways, my friends were talking and telling me about how the school's gonna do this new Superlative - Best Couple."

Yukhei could see Jungwoo opening his mouth as if he were to reply something but quickly closed it again, remembering he wasn't supposed to interrupt him.

Yukhei liked how powerful it made him feel.

"So they were having this weird idea that since we both want the Superlatives we should pretend to date to get it. It wouldn't have to be anything too extravagant, just like be seen together once a week, meet for lunch every other day." Yukhei takes a big sip of his smoothie in between sentences, the cold drink gliding smoothly down his throat.

Jungwoo obviously does _Tnot_ get distracted by the bead of condensation rolling down Yukhei's neck.

"We could start it next week when going back to school, we'd just have to fabricate some sort of story about how we met this summer holiday when we were at a beach with our parents . Being the only people there that were under 40 we decided to spend the day together and hit it off, something like that."

Jungwoo just nodded along, perplexed by the absurdity of this situation (and no, he still does _not_ stare at Yukhei's neck).

"We wouldn't even have to talk much in school, really, we could go to the library and study which involves us not talking and just look at each other occasionally, I guess. It'd be easy."

Getting torn out his daze by Yukhei's last words, Jungwoo subconsciously leans a little closer to Yukhei.

"Yukhei, this isn't just pretending to be a couple, this is pretending to be the _best_ couple of the whole school. It's going to take more than just a date a week and a bit of hand-holding in school to convince people of that. Especially because of our," Jungwoo stopped, trying to find the right word to describe their situation, "reputation, I guess you could say, so far."

"We hate each other, remember?" is left unsaid, but Jungwoo can tell by the Chinese boy's face that he understood.

"Yeah, I- I guess you're right," Yukhei replies, not as upset as Jungwoo would expect considering he basically just rejected him, even if it was just an offer to fake date.

"We'd have to practically be glued to one-another. Walking around together in school, eat together, spend our breaks together. We'd have to hold hands and cuddle and feed each other our lunch so the other could try it. We'd have to go on dates because no one in this god forsaken city can do anything in public without being seen by someone so they'd get suspicious if they didn't see us out and about. We would have to go to the cinema together but instead of focus on the movie we'd be lost in the other's eyes and giggles."

Yukhei was listening intently, staring at his drinks as he moved the ice cubes in it around with his straw. Jungwoo tried to meet his eyes to maybe figure out what was going through the Chinese's head as he was speaking, but to no avail.

"We'd go to cafés much like this and drink coffees that are much too sweet but find the others presence sweeter. Go on walks through the park, basking in the sunlight with the other and enjoying the passing summer days. I'd go to your games and be the loudest one shouting my praises. We'd go to prom together once the end of the year comes around. We have to out-couple Doyoung and Taeil for fuck's sake."

"Yeah, you're right, this was a bad idea," Yukhei said, suddenly rushing to get his wallet and his phone packed up into his backpack after having left a bit of money on the table (Jungwoo assumed to pay him back for his drink as Yukhei had promised).

Now standing in front of the Korean, Yukhei grinned down at him and with the words "sorry for taking up your Thursday afternoon," he was gone.

Jungwoo spent another ten minutes just sitting in the café, pondering over what just happened and what that odd, heavy feeling in his chest was.

Unbeknownst to him, on the bus back to his dorm, Yukhei was feeling that same emotion weighing down his chest.

(Neither of them realise it was disappointment).

 

The most dreaded day of every summer holiday came a few days later - the last one. Yukhei tried to squeeze as much hanging out with friends as he could into this last day, as if that wasn't what he had been doing every day for the entire summer anyways. But he had to face the cold truth anyways - Monday came and school started up again.

The dorms were busy with students having to get up before 10 am and trying to remember wherever they put their schoolbooks weeks ago. Yukhei felt like he hadn't seen about 98% of these people since the last school day, which probably was pretty accurate seeing how many of them holed themselves up in their rooms playing video games or just catching up on sleep they missed during the school days. Even the ones that did leave their room occasionally Yukhei didn't see too frequently, usually spending his time far away from the dorms with his friends, playing basketball or doing other things that just didn't invite meeting a lot of semi-strangers from his school.

Stepping into school that Monday morning everyone seemed to look at him though.

He was used to other students looking at him, another consequence of his good looks, but usually they weren't being this obvious about it, opting for sneaky staring instead of the outright stares they were throwing at him now; it made him a little uncomfortable to be honest but it was nothing a Wong Yukhei couldn't handle.

Only when those stares began pairing with huge grins and giggles, Yukhei suspected that this time it was different. These weren't the normal everyday 'God-he's-so-gorgeous' stares he has gotten so good at ignoring over the years, these were rumor-fueled stares, the kind of stares you got when you made out with someone at a party and were the talk of the school for a few days.

Except that Yukhei didn't go to some party and didn't make out with anyone either.

There really was nothing that could've caused such a commotion, no matter how much Yukhei thought about it.

Until someone Yukhei faintly remembers to be in his Chemistry course distracts him from his thoughts, beginning a conversation on whether they had to do anything over the holidays, going off on a tangent about how he was hoping for chemistry to not be on the same day as Korean this semester because he didn't want to suffer through both of his worst subjects in one day.

"Oh by the way, congrats man, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. All the best for you two, see you in Chemistry," were the last words the guy Yukhei remembered to be named Daeun said before to him before leaving, highly confusing Yukhei in the process.

What was going to happen sooner or later? And who was he wishing all the best to? Yukhei and someone else? But who? And why?

His head, already filled with questions, filled even further, no space for thoughts left as questions began to overflow his brain.

Jaehyun, a classmate and member of Yukhei's basketball team, then came jogging over to him, slapping him in the shoulder in a bro way of greeting him, asking him where he was headed.

Yukhei, entirely lost in his confusion, had apparently managed to walk off into the entirely wrong direction, moving away from the classroom he was supposed to go to for the first lesson, until Jaehyun stopped him.

"Uh, I was - originally I was going to class but I seem to have - Jaehyun why is everyone congratulating me?"

Yukhei looked at Jaehyun with utter confusion written in his eyes, desperately searching his face as though all of life's questions could be answered by him.

Jaehyun just giggled, a tiny, barely even audible sound. "You should be the one to know best dude. Can't believe you landed with him, I mean I kinda do, you two always had... a chemistry. But wow your ugly ass with this gorgeous boy is really just something else."

Jaehyun was now full on laughing, but Yukhei face was still graced by the confusion, not having left him since his first step into the school this morning.

"Oh c'mon, don't look like that I didn't mean it, you're a pretty decent looking gu-"

"What are you even talking about?" Yukhei interrupted him, finally having found someone he knew well enough to formulate his confusion into a question.

"What am I talking abou- Jungwoo of course! Someone saw you two out on a date last week! So I guess it's official, eh? I must admit I'm a little hurt you didn't think to tell your best basketball buddy about it yourself, but it seems like you didn't seem to tell anyone about it so I'm not too hurt. Are you okay? You look pretty pale."

As the river of words that left Jaehyun's mouth washed over Yukhei the only coherent thought he could manage was "I'm dating Jungwoo". Looking up at a now pretty concerned Jaehyun, Yukhei turned around and ran off towards where he assumed Jungwoo to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear it's pure coincidence that all the chapter names start with the letter p so far


End file.
